Dawn of Magic
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Yona never said anything, but she has a secret. Inside her body are two souls. One is Yona, the princess, while the other is Lyra, a witch who died and somehow ended up in Yona's body when she was a child. It's a good thing too, otherwise things would get hairy as she attempts to reclaim her home from her murderous cousin.
1. Chapter 1

**As a special birthday pres from me to you, I am posting a few stories from the drabbles as full ones. Enjoy!**

* * *

She had always known her cousin was trouble, ever since she recovered from the head injury that took most of her memories away. The attack that stole her mother from her also caused a slight change in her personality when she was back to 'normal'.

The old her would have fallen in love with him, after the way he managed to coax her back into smiling despite losing her beloved mother.

Yona knew better than to open the door. The moment she realized that there were no guards outside her father's door, and the fact it was opened slightly was clue enough that she would not like what she found if she went inside.

"_Is someone out there?"_ asked a voice softly. It was one she knew all too well.

Softly, she walked away from the door with a heavy heart knowing that she could never return to the castle. Her primary focus was only on escaping before the traitors found her.

Fortunately, Yona was a rather adventurous girl and had long since memorized all the secret paths out of the castle without the guards being any the wiser. So long as she returned back before the servants roused her for breakfast, no one would be aware of her late-night escapades.

Yona avoided her room. It would be one of the first places they would look for her. Instead she veered off to a store house that held mostly outdated records of the kingdom that had become stuck in recent years. Since no one really _used_ said records, no one had bothered to fix the issue. It wasn't like anyone came to this particular building.

Yona slipped in through the hidden door, and found her small training area untouched as always. No one was aware that the storehouse sat above a tunnel that lead deep into the forest that would take them in the direction straight to the Wind Tribe. It was an escape route for the royals and other important people that had been long forgotten until she found it and quietly cleaned it out.

It was also her primary method of leaving the castle. Since no one came to this building and it wasn't near anywhere important or the walls, there wasn't even a guard stationed around it. And any route that would have taken them past it were easy to avoid.

Yona bit back a sob, knowing she would never see her father again. She had to escape, and quickly before Soo-Won used her as either a hostage to 'legitimize' his ascension to the throne or had her killed outright to avoid competition later.

Hearing voices outside, Yona stayed quiet until they were gone. Once she was sure no one would hear her, she went and grabbed all the little stashes she had kept for her trips outside the castle walls. Since since would not be coming back, she grabbed _everything_...including weapons that would have upset her father greatly if she knew she had them, much less how to use them properly.

It had been so easy to convince her father to let her take those special dance and music lessons, unaware of the secondary purpose for them. It had been hard enough to get him to make her primary weapon in the first place, since she thought the metal fans were "prettier" than the fabric ones.

It had been ridiculously easy to find someone who could sharpen the 'decorative' fan which had been made by someone she knew perfectly well was a weapons smith into something functional rather than just pretty. And the dance routines for fans were scarily similar to the stances required to _fight_ with them, if one were creative enough about it. All she needed was a bit of fluff over the edges that could be removed within seconds, and she had a weapon to defend herself with.

The noise level outside was getting worse. Carefully, she opened the escape tunnel and replaced it like she always did, making sure to seal it properly so no one would find it.

With tear filled eyes, Yona fled down the dark tunnel without bothering to light her way. She knew this path so well she could move without it regardless.

Outside the tunnels, another figure was fleeing the castle for roughly the same reason, just with a very different motivation behind it.

Hak knew Soo-Won was hiding something, but he never thought in a thousand years that the bastard would outright murder his uncle the king! The only saving grace was that Yona had somehow managed to get away, though it did beg the question of where she was now. All he knew was that Soo-Won's traitors were searching everywhere on the grounds for her, but surprisingly she had disappeared completely. Hak had personally checked all the little hidey-holes Yona used to read in peace or to avoid certain people, and she hadn't been in any of them to his relief.

He knew to some extent she had a habit of slipping off the grounds, and had already grabbed the few little stashes he had discovered.

He knew of two escape routes that the Princess used, but he had never brought it to the attention of her father. She was always back by morning and she kept stashes with supplies he could approve of whenever she did. While there were no weapons, he was able to at least predict when she would have the urge and discreetly follow her, though she had a few routes he hadn't managed to find yet.

The fact those stashes were untouched meant he was likely the only one who had noticed this particular quirk of hers or had been able to catch her at it. He was certain King Il would have definitely raised a protest about it if he had known.

The irony being that at that very moment Yona was actually traveling underground in the same direction he was. Hak was quite literally traveling above her unaware of the fact his princess was right beneath him the entire time.

He would be quite annoyed when he found out later though.

* * *

Yona, traveling under the name of Lyra, was making steady progress to the Wind tribes lands.

Soo-won would never believe she was capable of surviving in the wilds on her own, much less capable of avoiding capture. By this point they had figured out she wasn't in the castle at all, though no one had seen her leave so they had no idea where she was.

Either way, word had already spread that the king was dead. At least no one would believe for a minute that Yona was the culprit. She had nothing to gain from the king's death, and everyone knew how much she loved her father.

So far the official story was that an assassin had killed the king and had kidnapped her so that they could appoint a new one of their choice by marrying her. Any man she married would become a potential successor to the throne, making her _very_ valuable politically.

She just knew Soo-won would appoint himself king, once he convinced the head of the four tribes to nominate him. So long as she never reappeared, his claim on the throne would go completely uncontested as he was her blood cousin.

Not for the first time, Yona was relieved she had memories of a past life to fall back on. It made surviving and possibly escaping to get potential reinforcements later that much easier.

Sure, it sucked that her past self had died at the age of fifteen by falling through a magical portal, but honestly? She would much rather be Yona than Lyra.

Yona had family and people who loved her. She was allowed to be exactly who she wanted to be, within the bounds of reason. And while it was slightly difficult having to hide her weapon training from her father, it wasn't impossible. At least Hak was tolerable as a bodyguard though she had sensed something was off with her cousin from the start. The girl she had been before had been deeply in love with him for helping her through the difficult time of losing her mother, but the young woman she was now had the common sense to plan ahead for this sort of scenario.

And she was very, very glad she did. Yona shivered at the thought of what could have happened if she hadn't had the memories of Lyra Potter to fall back on.

Hearing voices, some of which sounded vaguely familiar, Yona swiftly ascended the first tree she could find with sufficient foilage.

While her disguise was good, avoiding humans entirely was a much better idea.

A good thing too, because she somewhat recognized one of Soo-won's co-conspirators below. He might have recognized her!

Staying absolutely silent, Yona remained in the tree and just listened. A sadly underated skill that had so many benefits.

Case in point, the men had for reasons that would continue to baffle her, decided to use the tree she was hiding in as a place to stop and share news. She made sure to keep a firm grip on the branches in case any of them sensed her presence and tried to shake her loose.

Good thing the tree she was in didn't have any fruits. One of them might have tried to climb up for a free snack.

"Any sign of the princess yet?"

"None. It's like she disappeared into thin air."

The leader of this particular group looked furious.

"Odds are General Hak has already located her. She might be hiding within the Wind tribe. Keep searching until it's confirmed."

"Yes sir!"

Yona stayed silent. She had no idea if Hak was even loyal to her, but she prayed to god that he was. She desperately needed someone like him on her side in this mess.

She had already lost the bond of trust with Soo-won...she couldn't bear to lose Hak as well.

"Damn that stupid girl! How did she managed to avoid the patrols? She should have been sleeping!" snarled the leader.

Everything had gone according to plan...except for the princess managing to slip away after the party. Hak was one factor they had already taken into account. Yona's mysterious disappearance was not.

It had been the foolish girl's birthday, for crying out loud! What possible reason would she have had for leaving the castle?!

Yona did not cry. She could not afford tears, and she was still coming to terms with the fact that her father was dead. Her father might be a bit of a coward, but he had truly loved his daughter and his country.

He didn't deserve to be killed by that traitorous bastard!

It was only when night fell and the man was long since gone that she came down, her muscles stiff.

However much she wanted to cry, the simple fact was that she couldn't.

She could cry to her heart's content later...she had to survive until she found some allies and she could afford to let her defenses down long enough to grieve.

Her eyes were dead and full of sorrow, but she clutches her hood and kept on walking.

She still had some distance to go before she reached the Wind tribe lands.

They, at least, were loyal to her father.

* * *

Hak cursed. He had made it to the Wind tribe, but Yona was still nowhere to be found. At the very least he knew Soo-won didn't have her.

She was a lot more resourceful than he could have originally guessed...not that he was complaining under the current circumstances mind you.

Since there was no way he was going back to the castle with that man about to take the throne, Hak joined the patrol around the tribe lands.

If Yona were to head anywhere, his money would be here. She knew that they were loyal to her father and she would need all the allies she could get.

Hak was not amused in the least when he found several members of the Fire tribe attempting to damn up the river. Clearly Soo-won knew Hak would never approve of his appointment as the new king... so he intended to force them into submission. It made his blood boil.

Hak was about to head down there and give those bastards a piece of his mind...and vent his anger at the situation...when he sensed someone nearby.

It took him some time to narrow down where the presence was. Though by the time he started to have doubts it was a scout.

He looked carefully, but found nothing. However he _knew_ that the presence was still there. Watching. Waiting.

When all else failed, Hak pretended to leave the area.

In reality he was quietly climbing a tree, hoping to trick the person out of hiding.

He found someone hiding above the trees wearing a worn cloak that covered their head. They were staying still and were very quiet. Just from the figure alone he could tell it was a woman. He wouldn't be surprised if she had seen the soldiers and wisely decided to make herself scarce. And considering he was carrying around his own weapon with a pissed off expression on his face, he couldn't really blame her for hiding from him either.

Hak stayed quiet...at least until another one of the Wind Tribe's scouts spotted what the soldiers were doing and tried to stop them.

The woman tensed, and slowly drew a short bow and a few arrows that she discreetly stabbed into the trunk for easy access. Hak approved of the trick, as it meant she wouldn't lose her arrows before she had a chance to shoot them.

Her form was terrible and clearly self-taught, but he already favored her for the simple fact she shot at the enemies soldiers and was clearly doing her best to keep them from the scout. He still got a nasty beating out of it, but it was far less severe than it could have been.

Hak waited patiently for the enemy soldiers to pass by, and for the woman to come down.

She very smart, hiding like that and being able to keep silent while they searched for her.

Nothing could have prepared him for when he quietly came down and managed to grab her before she slipped off.

The second he saw her face, his heart nearly stopped from shock alone.

"Yona?!"

The princess passed out in his arms, her stomach rumbling from hunger. The sheer exhaustion on her face made it clear she had a rough few days...but the simple fact she had managed to make it this far without anyone finding her was nothing short of a miracle in his opinion.

Hak picked her up and made very, very sure the enemy soldiers never saw him. Though he was thanking every god he could think of that the princess was safe and had managed to escape the tragedy in the castle.


	2. Chapter 2

To say the Wind tribe was relieved that the princess was safe was an understatement. Hak in particular refused to leave her side, and would hover outside the door when the women went to change her.

Yona slept for a full day straight, before waking up sometime near the afternoon.

The second she saw Hak, she froze.

"Hak..."

"You gave me quite the scare, hime," said Hak. You could tell how exhausted he was for staying up the entire night, but he would never complain. He was just so relieved Yona was safe.

Yona's eyes were shaded by her vibrant red hair. She had always found it quite troublesome to deal with, but right now it was the least of her concerns.

"Hak... you're on my side...right?" she asked in a quiet whisper.

"I'm sorry I left your side, hime. I was told by the king to protect you, and I don't seem to have done a very good job," said Hak.

Seeing the tears in her eyes, Hak went over and hugged her tightly. All of her defenses dropped and Yona started sobbing into his shoulder.

The past five days had been an absolute nightmare.

General Mundok came in once he heard she was awake, after giving her some time to grieve in private.

"Yona-hime, I am relieved you are alive and safe. How did you escape?"

Seeing the interest in Hak's eyes at that question as well, Yona clutched at the blankets.

"You took one of those little escape tunnels, didn't you?" said Hak.

Yona stared at him in shock.

"You knew?"

"I saw you once or twice when I had the night off from patrols. You always came back by morning and you never went anywhere shady, so I kept silent about it from the king," shrugged Hak. "I only recognized you after the third time though."

Yona gaped for a few moments, before she collected herself.

"I... I wanted to thank father properly for the party and to wish him a good night. But there weren't any guards by his room and the door was open a little. I knew something was horribly wrong when I caught a sort of coppery scent from the room, and heard Soo-won's voice inside," said Yona quietly. "I went to the old records building where I kept one of my stashes and took the hidden tunnel out of the castle grounds."

Hak wasn't the only one to blink at that.

"You mean the record building with the jammed door?" he asked, surprised.

"The tunnel there leads to roughly the same direction as the Wind tribe lands and no one ever goes there anyway. The patrols don't bother going near it and it's nowhere near the walls, so no one would be looking for me there," said Yona.

Hak thought back to where that particular building was positioned, before a look of annoyance came across his face.

"Are you telling me I was running literally on top of you that night and didn't know it?!"

Yona let out a small giggle at that, but it was dwarfed by her ever present grief.

Hak managed to school his expression.

"Where did you learn archery?" he asked. "Your form was sloppy, but you were able to aim with far too much accuracy for a complete novice."

"There's a reason I asked father for music lessons involving the lyre and harps," said Yona. "The callouses on my hand concealed the fact I was learning how to use a bow... I didn't want to worry him."

Hak looked a little dumbfounded hearing that comment...though he would admit it was a brilliant way to hide the fact she was discreetly training in weapons on the sly.

Without much warning, Hak laughed.

"I suppose I should have guessed you were hiding something like that, hime," said Hak. "After all, aren't you the same girl who gave the fire tribe's son a black eye because he wouldn't stop harassing you and calling it courtship?"

Yona took her pillow and threw it at Hak.

Kan Tae-jun was an annoying pest who kept suggesting that Yona play with him, despite the fact she made it blatantly clear she wanted nothing to do with him. He only saw her as a way to get the throne, and she had been quite blunt in her refusal of him.

She only lost her temper when he tried to drag her somewhere, and she punched him hard enough that he got a black eye from it.

On the plus side, he never bothered her again. On the downside... her pacifist father saw the entire thing and restricted her to her rooms for three full days as punishment.

Hak, naturally, had seen the entire thing go down and had found the entire situation absolutely hysterical. He honestly never believed Yona had it in her to punch someone like that.

Either way it had convinced him to accept King Il's suggestion to become Yona's permanent bodyguard, if only for the entertainment he was sure to get out of it.

Even if he was the only one who found out about her little trips outside the castle at night.

"Yona-hime!" said Mundok in shock.

"So hime, what other little surprises have you been keeping from us?" asked Hak, absolutely amused.

Yona had to hold back a sly smirk of her own. She pulled out a familiar metal fan, and to the disbelief of Mundok and Hak, pulled off the 'fluff' at the top. A single hair proved how sharp the fan actually was.

"I may not like fighting, but I dislike being helpless even more. It was worth every bit of coaxing that it took for father to have this commissioned since no one would dare suspect the _princess_ of openly carrying a weapon. After all, dancing isn't that much different from actual fighting if you use it right."

Yona could see Hak was looking at her with a new, appreciative light. Mundok was still very much in shock that the princess knew how to use weapons and had been training in secret for years.

She smiled sadly.

"I only did it because I didn't want to be a burden if something happened. It's not like father had no enemies, and considering what Soo-won did, it's a good thing I kept it quiet. I didn't want to upset him," said Yona sadly.

"Are you saying you don't trust me to protect you?" asked Hak, serious.

"I'm saying I would rather not become a liability in a fight. I'm not very good at fighting in all, but I refuse to be completely helpless when it could get you killed," said Yona. "You're the only friend I have left... if you died I would never forgive you."

Hak felt something warm in his chest hearing that. It really didn't help that he rather liked the warm expression on Yona's face at the moment.

This princess who knew almost less than nothing about how the outside world was like, had managed to fool them all and survive against the odds.

He could only wonder what King Il would say if he knew what Yona had gone through. Either way, he was never leaving her side again. He had a promise to keep after all.

"Hime... how did you manage to avoid capture?" asked Mundok.

"She took to the trees," said Hak.

Yona blinked.

"I sensed you before you started shooting, but I couldn't find you. So I went up to get a better view and spotted you watching the soldiers. You were staying so still that I would have missed you entirely if I hadn't gone up as well," said Hak.

"No one ever looks up unless they hear or see something that draws their attention," said Yona quietly. "I was almost too terrified to sleep, so I took brief naps until I gained my strength back and kept heading in this direction."

"You're safe here, Yona-hime," said Mundok.

"For now, but they already suspect that I'm here, even before I managed to reach Hak. I overheard them talking and they assumed Hak had found me three days ago," said Yona. "I have the feeling Soo-won called off the search... we can't really do anything without more allies, and as loyal as the Wind tribe is, going up against whatever forces Soo-won has been gathering in secret would only lead to needless death."

The two were silent, both inwardly wondering when Yona became this smart about tactics of war, much less why she felt the need to learn how to fight in the first place.

King Il doted on her, and the idea of her fighting personally would have been completely abhorrent to him. He barely tolerated the idea of Hak and Soo-won knowing how to fight.

Mundok went to step up patrols of the area. If Soo-won suspected her to be here, he might try to reclaim her. Considering she presented a viable threat to his reign, he had zero doubts that the man would have the princess executed.

Hak stayed with Yona. For a while, they were both silent, save for when one of the others brought in some food for her.

"I'm glad," said Hak.

Yona looked at him curiously.

"I'm glad that you didn't take Soo-won's betrayal or King Il's murder so badly that you froze up. I don't know what I would have done if you had and I wasn't able to protect you," said Hak quietly.

Yona stared at her own hands.

"I... I didn't want my last memory of father to be his death, much less see Soo-won there with his blood on his hands. I knew I had to escape, before something worse happened," said Yona softly. "I didn't even have time to grieve... stopping would have meant admitting father was gone, and they could have found me."

Hak quietly hugged her again,though this time the tears were silent. Yona grieved over her father, the fact that her life was utterly changed and the betrayal of Soo-won. She clung to him like a life-line, just letting her pain out.

"I promise you, hime... I will never leave your side or betray you," swore Hak.

Yona felt deep in her soul that he meant every word, which made her cry harder and hold him tighter. In times like these, she needed every ally she could get, especially those who were as loyal and trustworthy as Hak.

Mundok would never truly approve of Soo-won as king. The man was far too ruthless and cold to trust, and he was beyond manipulative.

He had always considered Yona a bright, if slightly flighty princess. He would have been fine serving any husband she chose to marry as the new king.

Instead this entire incident had ripped away the maidenly veil she had always been hiding under to reveal depths he had never believed possible in her.

The mere fact she managed to not only escape the castle, but make it to the tribe completely on her own (despite obvious exhaustion and grief) was nothing short of astounding and beyond what he thought her capable of. Finding out she had been training in how to use _weapons_ of all things, despite the fact her father would never have permitted it if he had known, shocked him to his core.

She was cunning, but unlike Soo-won not manipulative to her core. She knew the value of hiding in plain sight where everyone could see her, but dismiss her as an actual threat until their backs were to the wall.

It made him wonder what would happen if Yona ascended to the throne as the _actual_ ruler of the country, rather than just as the Queen who supported her husband.

Only time would tell if Yona's hidden depths would be enough to deal with that snake Soo-won.

* * *

It took a day or two for Yona to recover from the ordeal, however there was a sense of 'steel' behind her eyes that he had never seen before. One tempered with a resolve that surprised him.

"General Mundok... I want you to allow Soo-won to ascend the throne for now."

"Princess Yona," he said in surprise.

Yona looked at her hands, which were clenched into fists.

"As I am now, there is simply no way for me to counter his forces. While giving him the throne will allow him access to the power he's been wanting, it also keeps him busy and in plain sight. I would rather have that traitor where I can see him and his movements easily tracked than have his sword at my back," said Yona. It was clear she was angry, and still in grief over what her cousin had done.

He could see the wisdom in her plan, even if he didn't like it one bit.

"What do you plan to do?"

"I need more allies. I can't stand by and let that traitor do whatever he pleases after he murdered my father, but I'm too weak and it's ridiculous to rely on only Hak for protection. Guarding is far more difficult than attacking, and he can't be everywhere at once," said Yona seriously. "Besides...my being here only brings danger to the Wind Tribe, and I would rather not drag everyone here needlessly into this fight before I'm ready to take back my home."

Mundok was silent. It seemed the "flightly" princess he had always considered a granddaughter had been hiding a core of steel. He wasn't sure how King Il would have reacted to this side of her, and he was saddened that she had to show it under such terrible circumstances.

"That being said, I wouldn't mind it in the least if you started spreading discreet rumors about the new 'king' being a kinslayer. Knowing him, he'll be making it out as if Hak was the murderer, not him," said Yona vindictively.

"It would be difficult to make people believe he killed King Il," said Mundok.

"Who said anything about him being my father's murderer? No one is entirely certain what happened to me, and I don't intend to go parading around under my real name if possible. And very few people outside of those who frequented the castle even know what I really look like. It would be much easier to gather loyal allies in secret if I was 'dead' after all," said Yona slyly.

"And how are we going to prove your death to the nobles?" asked Mundok.

Yona wanted to snort at that.

"I have been meaning to get a hair cut, and combined with the 'present' Soo-won gave me, which could be easily bloodied to make it look convincing, and he would be hard pressed to prove I wasn't dead and my body hidden so Hak wouldn't lead the Wind Tribe into a revolt."

Mundok was speechless...particularly since that sort of sneaky, underhanded plan had a disturbingly _high_ chance of actually succeeding.

Everyone knew Hak was close to the princess, so the idea of his grandson leading his tribe into a revolt over her death was hardly unthinkable. As was the idea of him resigning in anger over her sudden demise at the hands of her cousin, and refusing to serve under Soo-won.

The fact it was undermine the new "king's" position with the other countries only made things even more dire. After all, who would trust a kinslayer to be true to his word, no matter what he did?

"Are you sure about this, hime?"

"Until we can prove Soo-won killed my father, this is the best way to start making things difficult for him. The fact he can't prove he _didn't_ have me killed makes it even harder for him. After all, I'm the only thing standing in his way of ruling this country," said Yona. "And everyone knows how rare my hair color is. Even though it's given me no end of grief I've never had it cut. Having that as 'proof' of my demise will make it nearly impossible for him to prove otherwise so long as I'm free and outside his control. A bloody hair pin only makes the 'evidence' even more convincing."

Mundok sighed. He could admit the plan would cause no end of grief for Soo-won, especially if Yona stayed out of his hands. It didn't mean he had to like it.

"I feel like I'm letting another grandchild go."

"It's only temporary, and this is the best way to keep the Wind Tribe safe. I can rest easy knowing that when the time comes, I will have you all at my side rather than against me. That's why I want to protect it," said Yona smiling softly.

Mundok gently ruffled her hair fondly.

When had Yona grown up? And how had they all missed this side of her for so long?

Seeing her leave the Wind tribe capital with a much shorter hair cut, a bandaged hand and some proper weapons, he felt a strange feeling stir in his chest.

For a brief moment, he would swear he saw a dragon behind her made of red scales. A fierce, protective thing that roared proudly into the sky and was determined to reclaim it's home. However the thing that struck him most was the color of it's eyes.

Yona's eyes were an odd shade of blue...but the dragon...it's eyes were a deep, vibrant green he had only ever seen in gemstones.


	3. Chapter 3

Yona was not happy, though at least she had perfectly acceptable victims...er, _volunteers_...for her misplaced aggression and rage towards what Soo-won had done to her father and her peaceful life. The fact that the same man who had harassed her when she was twelve and adamantly refused his so-called courtship was a very delightful icing on the cake in her opinion.

Anyone who thinks it's perfectly acceptable to harass a twelve year old and attempt to drag them off to parts unknown despite their refusal deserved every bit of pain she intended on giving him.

"Hak... I want to make it perfectly clear that bratty son from the fire tribe is _mine_," she growled.

Hak took _one_ look at her expression, then at her chosen victim, and very nearly stepped to the side of her. However at this point he was just glad Yona liked him enough that she never aimed that sort of expression at him, despite all the teasing he did towards her.

Kan Tae-Jun had the strangest sensation of ice in his veins from the look Yona was giving him. He ignored it, believing her to be the same foolish princess that the tribes had known for years.

Quite a few people would be getting a very shocking wake-up call today.

Fire. That was all Hak could think, all he could see, as Yona surprised everyone with the fact she wasn't afraid to fight. It wasn't just the fact she was actually _hurting_ people with the fan everyone had taken as a flight of whimsy, despite the fact it was made by a master weapon-smith. It wasn't the fact that she was able to hit people with arrows using the bow Mundok had given her, along with the quiver...even if her attempts were clumsy, she was still able to hit who she aimed at. It wasn't even the fact that she knew how to fight in a manner he had only ever seen in a bar-room brawl a time or two when things got heated.

No, everyone who looked at Yona saw _fire_, and Hak didn't mean her hair color. There was a fire and passion in her eyes that he never knew existed, along with tempered steel and a will to live that shone so brightly it was impossible to look away and not be drawn back to it.

Hak had to fight the urge to kiss her then and there after seeing _that_ sort of display. He had no idea she had this in her at all.

It was so entrancing he actually missed the fact he was standing on the edge of the cliff, at least until Yona raced to grab his hand.

"Hak!"

By this point most of their opponents had fallen to the combined efforts of Hak and Yona. The second Kan Tae-Jun attempted to stop her, he got a broken nose and a black eye in the same spot Yona had punched him before... and that was on top of the fact she happily kicked him in the balls as hard as she could, causing him to shriek in a decidedly high pitch for the stunt he pulled when she was twelve.

No, she wasn't holding a grudge over the crap he pulled. Why would you say such a thing?

Falling off a cliff was annoying, but she would rather die trying to save her friend than allow that arrogant pig drag her back to the castle.

Hak looked at the weakened form of the princess. While he had shielded her from the worst of the fall, one of the soldiers they were fighting had poisoned his arrows. He kicked himself for not thinking of it, because now Yona was lying there with a nasty fever as her body combated the poison.

His attention turned to the priest they had been trying to locate.

He was still crying, though why Hak had no idea.

The self-proclaimed pretty boy gave his friend an annoyed look.

"Ik-soo, why are you reacting like that?" he asked.

"That poor girl. She's suffered so much, and yet it seems fate has decided to make her endure more."

"Please, what could the princess know of suffering?"

"I'm not talking about Yona," said Ik-soo, which had Hak's full attention. "I'm talking about the girl who's memories Yona carries from another world."

"What?" said Hak.

"The princess doesn't have one soul in her body... there's a second, much brighter one that's been burning in her for at least ten years."

Hak thought about that fateful day ten years ago, when the princess suddenly developed a sort of temporary amnesia. It passed within a week, but as the one closest to her he had noticed there was a slight change in her.

"Is Yona still in there?" asked Hak.

"The second soul isn't harming the first...far from it. Yona's soul is protecting it, while the other soul feeds into her own making it stronger. The two have a very peaceful coexistence, though at the moment the second soul is shielding Yona's. Her heart must have really taken a hit when her father was killed," Ik-soo assured him.

Hak thought about how surprising it was that Yona had made it to Wind Tribe on her own, and the resolve he saw in her eyes during the fight with the soldiers earlier.

What if that wasn't Yona, but this second soul the priest saw?

Later that night, when her fever broke, Yona woke up.

Hak was right there, waiting.

"What's this about you having two souls?" he asked.

Yona blinked, before staring at him.

"What?"

"The priest. He said you have two souls in you."

"I thought they had merged into one a long time ago," said Yona confused.

"Princess! You're awake!" said Ik-soo with relief.

"What's this Hak said about me having two souls?" she asked.

"The soul that attached itself to you when you were a child is still there. It's just that one of you is always the dominant while the other is sleeping. Normally when something like this happens, one of the souls attached to the body gets absorbed into the other. Instead you seem to be having a bleed-through," said Ik-soo.

"Is there any way to reverse it?" asked Hak.

"Yona's soul is the only thing keeping the second one from self-destructing. It was so badly damaged when it arrived that it had to latch on to hers in self-defense. It seems the other soul was content to hide until recently, so there was never any issue of the two clashing over who would have control over the body."

"She only ever wanted to rest," said Yona quietly. "She was hurting for so long that allowing Yona to be the primary soul helped her heart to recover from the suffering it had endured. But Yona's heart took a deep wound from Soo-won's betrayal, so now she's in control for the moment."

"Is Yona still in there?"

"She's never left. Just because I'm in control for the moment doesn't mean she has no influence. She's just letting me handle the day-to-day matters while she provides input on how we should handle this situation. She was never raised a survivor, after all, so she understands she doesn't have the necessary instincts to make it through this without becoming a burden on you," said Yona. "I was the one who underwent secret weapon training as well as the primary reason we managed to escape the castle unseen."

Hak wasn't sure how to feel about this.

"What's the main difference between you and Yona?"

"Yona understands what love is. I don't. I was never allowed to form any real attachments to others without it being used against me, where she was allowed to have a family, friends, and people she could trust explicitly. I wouldn't know what love looks like it if slapped me in the face," she replied without any hesitation.

Hak was silent, though he got up to find their missing weapons. Injured or not, he needed time to think about this.

_The next morning..._

Yona was almost worried Hak wouldn't return. After all, what normal person would accept the fact that she had two souls in her? She had merely thought Lyra had disappeared into just memories.

So it was with some relief that Hak not only returned, but continued to treat her like he normally did. He bonked her on the head and teased her like always.

"You said you were someone else before. Who was it?" asked Hak.

"What?"

"Your name from before," he repeated.

"Lyra. Lyra Potter. I prefer being Yona though," she said after a moment.

"By the way... have you lost some weight?" asked Hak.

"What?" said Yona dangerously.

"Before Soo-won betrayed us, you were much heavier. But when I carried you back to Fuuga, there was a major difference in your weight."

"Are you saying I'm fat?!" she snarled.

"Well if the shoe fits," said Hak smugly.

Even with the knowledge Yona was carrying a second soul in her that was far more adaptable to this new situation, she was still the same girl he knew. And just as much fun to tease.

Yona grabbed some rocks and started throwing them at him.

"You jerk! I'm not fat, I just took off the weights I was wearing in the castle!"

"Weights?" said Hak, blinking.

"I couldn't exactly train like you could without people noticing. So I found some weights to put on and wore them under my clothes to build up the strength needed to use my weapons. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been wearing such loose clothing since we left home," said Yona irate.

Hak stared at her, and realized that the clothing she had on fit her form far better than the robes she used to wear. In fact now that he was looking, he saw a bit of muscle definition he had missed before.

"What did you do, tie swords onto your arms and legs or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Those would have shredded anything I wore and father would have seen right through it."

Yona went into her bag that Hak had recovered and pulled out some metal that he had noticed, but couldn't figure out the use for.

He weighed it in his hand, but he still couldn't see the purpose for it.

"Yoon, could you come here a moment? I need to teach this jerk not to comment about my weight ever again," said Yona.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked.

"Hold these for a few moments," said Yona.

She handed him the metal, and almost immediately Yoon struggled to keep them up for more than a few moments.

"What the heck are these?! They must weigh as much as a full bag of rice!"

Yona looked at Hak smugly, before easily picking them up from Yoon's hands.

"I had these strapped to my arms, and most of my legs. Then I kept them on during my daily activities with no one the wiser, only taking them off to practice my weapons or dance," she informed the stunned Hak. "And every time they became too light, I would find a new set to increase the weight."

"And this works?" he said dubiously.

"You had to learn how to get used to the weight of your spear, right? And how not to drop your sword when you used it. My method is far more discreet but with roughly the same result. The only thing I had real trouble with was developing the same muscle memory for my archery skills and using my fan in a fight."

Hak developed a bit of respect for his princess, even if this was mostly the influence of "Lyra".

"That being said... if you call me fat again I will hurt you. Badly," growled Yona.

"Yes, yes," said Hak unconcerned.

"You are such a jerk!"

"Yes, yes," said Hak.

Yoon...couldn't help but feel that they were an idiot couple. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Hak was in love with the princess, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself yet, and Yona was so dense that she couldn't see it.

Or perhaps it was because she was terrified that if she acknowledged it's existence, that it would disappear? Yona had openly admitted that she barely knew what love was, and was relying on the original soul's input in matters of the heart.

As the two went to collect some food, since Yona still hadn't fully recovered, the princess went quiet.

"Hak... you don't think I'm weird do you? For having the memories of someone else in me?" she asked in a timid voice.

"Yeah, you're weird alright," said Hak.

"You...!"

"But I'm glad you are," continued Hak.

Yona stared at him, stunned.

"If not for those other memories, I can't bear to think of what would have happened to you. Because of Lyra, the princess I am sworn to protect made it out of that castle alive and to the capital of Fuuga without harm. Because of her strength, Yona has the power to move forward and accept the pain of being human."

Hak leaned forward, taking her hand.

"Yona or Lyra, I am still your bodyguard, princess," said Hak.

Yona's heart began to beat very fast as his face closed in towards her. The sheltered child that Yona had been would have thought he was checking her for a fever with how close his face was to hers.

However clueless Lyra was about love, even she could tell from the position and the way he was acting that he wasn't checking her for a fever at all.

Confused and bewildered, Yona stayed completely still when Hak kissed her on the lips.

"No matter what trials lay ahead, no matter what happens from here on out, I will always be at your side. So please, don't cry," said Hak with uncharacteristic gentleness.

"Hak," said Yona, blushing like crazy. Her face was as red as her hair.

Hak smirked, and there was a little wickedness in it. However he was happy too. Even after learning Yona had the memories and soul of someone else in there sharing her body, she was still the same princess he had sworn to serve.

However the fact she actually _let_ him kiss her made him wonder if perhaps one day his feelings for her might one day be returned.

For now he was content to simply be by her side, being the bastion of strength that she could rely on.


	4. Chapter 4

Yona couldn't help but feel a great deal of sadness hearing what Ik-soo had to say about her destiny.

"_Princess... the fate that awaited you in the previous life has not changed. You cannot escape the destiny that was written for your other self..."_

Lyra had known in her heart that she was being set up to die. It was an inescapable conclusion, with the way everyone treated her and the fact no one was willing to stand up and fight the Dark Lord, much less weaken his power. Dumbledore was a greater coward than Yona's father ever was.

King Il might have hated conflict and weapons, but he didn't hide behind 'grand ideals'. He admitted that his way might not be best, but he didn't lie about it.

Dumbledore was a manipulative old man who couldn't seem to realize the crushing weight he was forcing upon an innocent young girl, nor did he care in the least that when the dust was settled that everything she could have fallen back on to recover would be gone. To make matters worse, Lyra was also being oppressed by the expectations everyone had of her, like a gilded cage from which she could never escape.

Yona tried to distract herself by helping Yoon pick medicinal herbs. While she was still somewhat unsure about certain plants, she could at least recognize the most common ones.

She had a lot of free time in the castle, and Lyra was a very avid reader when given the chance.

"Is what you're running from that upsetting?" asked Hak.

"Would you blindly walk into a situation that you knew deep in your heart would get you killed for stupid reasons that you don't even believe in?" she shot back. "Death was a relief, since it meant I had a second chance to actually _live_ without being crushed by the world around me."

Hak looked at Yona with an unreadable expression.

"You're a strange one. You keep going despite the odds and never look back."

"If I dare stop or look back, then it would give those who would try to crush me a chance to win. And I can never afford that. I will wear my grief and weakness close to me, so that when I can finally rest, it will be with no regrets," said Yona, though Hak had the feeling this was Lyra speaking.

He took her hand and gently kissed the top of it.

"Through good or ill, I will never stray from your side. Never forget that," said Hak, thoroughly enjoying the massive blush on her face.

He knew she was remembering that kiss he gave her.

_A short while later..._

"Princess, I'm sorry if I upset you earlier," said Ik-soo apologetically.

"It's fine. I would rather have the blunt truth than hear a pretty lie designed to make me feel better," said Yona. "For as long as I can remember in this world, my entire life was a pretty lie."

None of the men could really counter that claim, because it was true. Yona had grown up in a castle filled with everything she could desire, knowing nothing of hardship or strife. She was loved and adored by her family and never knew the pain of actually living. To say she had been living in a dream was an understatement.

The part of her that was Yona was borrowing the strength of Lyra to be able to keep moving forward. Lyra had been through hell and still came out of it alive and strong. She knew how to survive even when the weight of grief and pain was pulling her down.

The two couldn't possibly be more different, and yet they were able to coexist.

"Princess Yona... if you were to collect the four dragons then there's a chance you might be able to control how your destiny ends...in both lives."

"What?"

"The power of the four dragons would be enough to avert the fate awaiting you as Lyra, and they would be enough to give Yona the power to claim her own destiny and possibly retake the kingdom from the new king. However that road will be paved with difficulties, and there's no telling if you would succeed," said Ik-soo. "God insured that Lyra would end up in the one person strong enough to handle her pain and her power when she came here in spirit form. Only you can decide whether you can succeed."

"Power? What power?" asked Hak. "Yona doesn't have any powers."

Yona however was in shock.

"I... I wasn't imagining it?" she said.

"Imagining what?" asked Hak.

"When I was heading to Fuuga, I accidentally stumbled into a nest of snakes. They were so irate that I told them to shut up, and they suddenly stopped trying to bite me. I thought I had dreamed it because of how tired I was at the time!" said Yona.

"You fell into a nest of snakes?! All the ones on the way to the Wind Tribe are poisonous!" said Hak in concern.

"Well if I really _have_ kept my gift, then there's an easy way to find out," said Yona.

There was only _one_ thing she could think of that would prove if she had kept her magic. Though she didn't think she had the sort of control to cast it without a wand to channel her magic.

Yona thought of what to cast, before memories of all the times Hak had teased her came to mind. Irritable, Yona flicked her wrist at him, causing him to yelp and drop the apple in his hand at the sudden sting.

"What the heck?"

An evil, wicked smirk appeared on her face.

It was about time she had a way to inflict some payback at him for all the teasing she had to put up with!

Hak felt the sudden urge to run at the expression on her face.

"What was that?"

"A stinging hex. It's a basic trick that children are taught in the beginning of their training," said Yona.

However there was no mistaking the glee she had at the fact she still had her magic. She had long since come to terms with the fact it didn't exist here, but finding out that hers was still functional made her giddy... especially since it meant they had a higher chance of survival.

"Princess... would you consider taking Yoon with you?" asked Ik-soo.

"Yoon loves you dearly, you know? You're both a father and an older brother to him. If he wishes to join us, I have no objections but you should really ask him what _he_ wants first."

After hearing Ik-soo's prophecy, Yona left the valley...with Hak and Yoon with her.

She wasn't strong enough to stand up against the treachery of Soo-won. But she also wasn't interested in simply retaking the castle. She had been a caged bird her entire life, and she was determined to see the true state of the kingdom with her own eyes, to determine the best way to save it.

* * *

"Hak...if you ever carry me like a sack of clothes like that again I will make you suffer," growled Yona.

"It worked didn't it?" said Hak smugly.

"That doesn't give you permission to grope my ass!" said Yona irate.

"Is that any way for a princess to talk?" he asked.

"Court etiquette can go hang for all I care! I am going to kick your ass if you do something like that again!" said Yona.

"I'd like to see you try, _princess_," said Hak.

"Gah! You stupid pervert!" said Yona in frustration.

"What would you know of perverts?"

"So you're saying the second son of the fire tribe leader wasn't a pervert who deserved to be slapped?" she snarked.

"...I take it back, you _do_ know how to recognize a pervert," said Hak.

"Wait, what?" said Yoon.

"The fire tribe leader's second son Kan Tae-Jun was trying to court Yona when she was twelve. He kept harassing her for days until he decided to try and force her to join him in some villa, and the princess snapped and punched him so hard that he got a black eye from it. King Il was very unhappy with her and made her stay in her room for three days as punishment," explained Hak.

"You... punched that arrogant blowhard to the point he got a black eye from it?" said Yoon in shock.

"I made it abundantly clear to that pig that I wasn't interested and stated as much with no room for uncertainty. That he had the gall to try and lay his hands on me was the final straw...he got what he deserved," said Yona vehemently without an ounce of shame. She then looked at Hak. "Didn't you swear to be my bodyguard almost immediately after father let me out of my room, saying something about the entertainment you would get from it?"

Hak smirked.

"What can I say? I never expected the flighty princess who had never seen conflict to actually punch someone and make it stick," said Hak amused.

"He deserved a swift kick to the balls," said Yona flatly, causing both men to cross their legs reflexively for a second.

"Are you really a princess?" asked Yoon.

"Is being a simpering flower who's only job is to look pretty and push out heirs going to help our situation?" asked Yona.

"Not really."

"Then don't complain if I drop the flighty act I had to keep up in the castle so people underestimate me," said Yona. "I only did it to keep my father happy, since he would have acted worried if he saw the side I kept hidden."

"I find this side of you to be much cuter," said Hak.

Yona's head turned to stare at him.

"What?"

"You aren't trying to be prim and proper and you speak your actual mind instead of using flowery words," said Hak. "But at the same time you aren't trying to be an outright tomboy. You're much more honest than you were before."

"I was happy in the castle, even if that happiness was merely a dream. I would have been fine with simply being a mother. However if fate has decreed that I must fight, then I intend to do so without holding back... our enemies certainly won't," said Yona.

"Gah... I swear if you two keep this up I'm just going to start calling you both the idiot couple!" said Yoon.

Seriously, the amount of sap between these two was starting to become nauseating.

Yona looked at him baffled.

"What do you mean, idiot couple?" she asked confused.

"The fact you haven't figured it out is ridiculous enough and means I have to endure even more sap..." said Yoon in annoyance.

He was a guy. Sappy romance did not appeal to him in the least and he really wasn't looking forward to watching it at all.

Yoon could already tell Hak was interested in Yona as a woman, and there was some interest from her as well. However Yona had been so sheltered that she had no idea of Hak's actual feelings for her.

Yoon sidled up to the older male.

"You do realize that if you want your feelings to properly get across to someone as dense as her, you're going to have to be a little more forward, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"She doesn't even realize what her true feelings for you are and likely won't without help. And it's obvious you like her as more than just a friend to anyone with eyes," said Yoon.

"She's my princess. I'm not supposed to have feelings for her like that."

"Considering the circumstances, I highly doubt anyone is going to care. Besides, you were important enough to be a general before this mess started, so it wouldn't be too ridiculous for the two of you to be matched up," said Yoon with a smirk.

If he had to endure this amount of sap and fluff, then he was going to have fun with it!

"So where are we supposed to be going?" asked Hak.

"Ik-soo said that the White Dragon was in this area," said Yona. "The others were moved, so he doesn't know where they could be."

"A misty village isn't very helpful," said Hak.

"Actually there _is_ a village hidden by mists that houses some sort of dragon bloodline. But they're super protective about it and they don't appreciate outsiders," said Yona.

Seeing the expressions on the others faces, Yona tilted her head.

"What did you think I was doing when I escaped the castle for a few hours? Gambling?"

"If you know so much, then tell me about this place."

"Well I only know a little from one of their merchants, mostly because my wig slipped once in front of them. They have some sort of legend about red hair, likely because the bloodline in question dates back to the red dragon legends. These merchants gather information about the outside world and do trade for the village and they tend to chase off or kill outsiders so that the dragon bloodline never ends up in the wrong hands," said Yona.

Yoon looked at Yona appreciatively.

"You sure know a lot."

"Well I used to take some of the fancier jewelry father gave me and render it back into parts I could easily trade for information and protection for a few days, since it wouldn't be traced back to me. It's not like father ever kept track of all the things I had in my jewelry box after all, and I was known as flighty," said Yona.

"So that's why there were several pieces of broken jewelry in those hidden bags you kept around the castle," said Hak.

Yona looked at him in surprise.

"You looked in them?"

Hak reached into his own bag to toss one of them at her. Most of the things were still in there, but the Wind Clan had added a small amount of first aid supplies, dried spices and a small bag of rice. Though it could have just as easily been Hak's doing.

There was also a small bag containing jewelry that _hadn't_ been turned into untraceable amounts of precious metal and small jewels.

She was smart, but she was also a girl who liked pretty things. Besides, it could make her disguise a little more authentic since she never kept anything too guady or elaborate in there.

The trio continued onward into the mountains, mostly following a rough map of where the village was according to Yona.

She had only gotten it because the merchant had taken one look at her red hair and had given it to her. Red hair wasn't exactly _common_ after all, especially not the shade she had.


	5. Chapter 5

As Yona had said, the villagers took one look at her red hair and brought them into the village. Clearly they fully believed the legend of the red dragon king's return.

However the _second_ the man with the dragon's bloodline saw her, his blood felt as if it was boiling. A great voice seemed to speak directly into his brain.

_**Warriors of the four dragons!**_

_**From now on you are our other halves!**_

_**With Hiryuu as your Master,**_

_**Protect, cherish, and never betray him**_

_**For as long as you live!**_

It felt as though the blood in his right arm was flowing backwards as a heat flowed through his body. The man stared at Yona with wide eyed wonder and a strange sense of delight.

His Master, the one his father and countless others had spent generations waiting for, had finally come for him! He must truly be blessed to be the one chosen to serve at their side!

Yona, on the other hand, was starting to think this entire mini-quest to find the four dragon bloodlines was a horrible idea...the look the Hakuryuu was giving her was creeping her out something awful.

Thankfully it was more "hero-worship" slightly above the level of Colin Creevey, with a very interesting right arm attached to it. So long as he was loyal and could handle himself in a fight without dragging them down, she could live with hero-worship.

Any irritation she felt about his potential behavior went away when she realized that the poor guy was as coddled as she had been in the castle, except he was allowed to learn how to fight and she wasn't. However she could feel the genuine love the villagers had for their dragon, so she quashed any unease she felt about the matter.

Thankfully Kija dropped most of the potential hero-worship attitude towards her once he realized it was making her very uncomfortable. She would rather have a clueless friend who may or may not develop romantic feelings to her that was completely and utterly loyal and was a little too enthusiastic towards his "duty" as the white dragon to the reincarnated soul of King Hiryuu than a fan boy who shadowed her like a stalker.

The fact Hak would have likely strangled him if he _had_ developed that sort of behavior was a minor point. She still found his petty rivalry with her oldest friend hilarious though.

"So, where do we go next?" asked Yoon.

"We need to find the other dragons, but I don't have the first clue where they would be," said Yona.

"I can help find them. I've always been able to sense where the others are, even if I've never seen them."

Everyone turned to the newest addition to the group. Yona looked relieved...she had enough scavenger hunts in her last life when it came to ridiculous mysteries...having someone who could definitively tell them if their target was nearby saved quite a bit of time.

"By the way, what's your real name? Hakuryuu sounds more like a title, so surely you have a normal name, right?" asked Yona.

He blinked in surprise. Everyone had referred to him as "Hakuryuu" for so long after his parents died that he never thought someone would ever refer to him by the name his parents had given to him.

"It's Kija," he replied, happy.

Yona smiled at him.

"It's nice to properly make your acquaintance, Kija," she replied. "Though you should call me Lyra while we're traveling in hostile territory."

Everyone blinked at her.

"What?"

"Why are you using the name Lyra?" asked Kija. "I thought you said your name is Yona?"

"It is," said Yona. "Except a hood isn't much protection when it comes to walking around unnoticed, and the only real identifier I have as the princess of Hiryuu castle is my red hair. Since father never let me out of the castle, very few people are aware of what I really look like beyond that."

Hak snorted.

"You plan on hiding in plain sight, to the point no one would think you're really the missing princess."

"If people think it's simply a case of mistaken identity, then it means a little extra degree of protection...besides, this way if I run into Soo-won I can express what I _really_ think of that traitorous bastard," said Yona darkly. "After all, he's used to the flightly, refined Yona, not the one that can curse worse than a sailor and who's perfectly capable of kicking him repeatedly in the balls until he's left a sobbing mess on the ground."

Seeing the men reflexively cross their legs, Yona smirked. So did Hak, who was already happily envisioning that particular image in his mind and yet hoped they never ran into Soo-won anytime soon.

"Who is this Soo-won?" asked Kija, wondering what sort of vendetta his new master had towards the man.

"He's my first cousin...and the one who murdered my father. By now he's likely been crowned king because I wasn't stupid enough to stick around and no one would have believed me 'capable' of taking the throne anyway. Everyone always saw me as flighty, after all," said Yona tiredly. "And retaking the castle is rather pointless since I don't have _nearly_ enough allies or knowledge about the kingdom. It's likely going to be at least a couple of years before I can feasibly kick him off the throne and reclaim my rightful place. Right now I would rather focus on short term goals that can help with the long term one."

Whatever complaints Hak might have had upon learning Yona had two souls in her died then and there. Clearly Lyra was a pragmatic, sensible person at heart and was able to ground Yona's originally flighty personality. Because that reasoning right there was something he definitely approved of, since short-term goals were much more reasonable and less difficult than a dubious "long term" goal.

* * *

Kija was highly impressed when they were accosted by bandits. He had thought the princess was searching for the four dragons to protect herself.

As it turned out, he was mostly right. He just didn't take into account that Yona was _not_ a wallflower and refused to be a 'damsel in distress' type princess.

She wanted to stand as an equal to Hak, so she put her all into training while they were resting at night.

However there was something _else_ she had been training whenever she could spare the time, or when she was simply too tired to practice her archery.

Lyra knew the bare basics of the animagus transformation. One of the biggest steps was meditation and knowing your magic to the point you could fill your body with it and allow the magic to take over the transformation aspect.

Without a wand or the potions most used, she was stuck using the oldest and by far the slowest method. However it wasn't without benefits...her wandless mastery of magic went up considerably the more progress she made towards the transformation.

So far she had been able to narrow down her animal form as that of a great crimson dragon, though one of the Eastern variety as no one had ever seen or even _heard_ of the Western one she was most familiar with.

Somehow, it didn't surprise her in the least considering she was the reincarnation of the Crimson Dragon King. She had the sneaking suspicion she would have to wait for her dragon blood to wake up before she could even remotely attempt a transformation, and she wasn't stupid enough to force it without anyone to help her fix things if she got it wrong.

On the plus side, it seemed her slow and steady approach was swiftly earning the favor of her inner dragon.

"So Kija, where do you sense the blue dragon?" asked Yona.

She was_ not_ going to question how he could sense the other dragons. All she knew was that it saved them a considerable amount of time in searching.

Kija pointed in a general direction, and they kept going.

The second they managed to narrow down _where_ the blue dragon was, Yona had a chill of foreboding.

This...would not end well.

* * *

Lyra was not a fan of the dark, despite having a natural inclination for finding her way in it. It was a side effect of the times she had been forced to wander around outside without a flashlight or anything but the clothes on her back when her 'family' locked her out.

So being trapped underground because 'Yona' had been in charge of their shared body and followed a _squirrel_ of all things made her somewhat annoyed.

The two had reached a rare coexistence, and she was rather tired of being 'in control'. Yona had thankfully switched places with her, though only Hak actually noticed this.

He seemed to be picking up on which was which, though Lyra could see his feelings for her remained the same regardless.

The moment someone took her hand and started to lead them out of the dark, she _knew_ it was the Seiryuu. There was a strange heat in her body that told her as much, though not as intense as what Kija described. Her blood was still dormant.

The thing that pissed both of them off was the way that the villagers described the Seiryuu's power as a curse and treated the child accordingly.

Yona was determined to help the poor teen out. No one deserved to be treated the way he was. Lyra could only feel empathy for his situation.

It felt far too similar to the treatment she received from her 'family', save for the fact these people seemed absolutely terrified of being around the Blue Dragon or even making eye contact.

"I have to wonder...why do the villagers seem to think Seiryuu has basilisk eyes?" mused Yona out loud.

"Basilisk?" repeated Yoon. Kija looked at her oddly as well.

"It's considered the 'king of the serpents'. Meeting it's gaze directly results in instant death, while an indirect meeting causing petrification. It also has venom so potent that without the tears of a phoenix you wouldn't survive it, and it has to be administered within seconds or you're dead."

Both males stopped and looked at her.

"What?" asked Yona confused.

"Where did you even_ hear_ of something like that?" asked Yoon.

"...I ran into one when I was twelve. Those things are a pain to kill and this one was being manipulated," said Yona sheepishly, putting her hand over the crook of her right arm without thinking. "I was lucky I accidentally called a phoenix to me, otherwise I wouldn't have survived."

"I didn't know you _could_ call a phoenix to you," said Kija.

"He wasn't mine... he was bonded to an old man I knew and I just happened to show enough 'loyalty' that it came when I called him."

"We're here. So there's an entrance to the underground from this dead end?" asked Yoon.

Yona pressed an indent in the wall, revealing a door.

She took note of the way Kija froze, and opted to stay outside. Obviously the villagers were not happy about them finding the door and were determined to keep it a secret.

The moment she got a proper look at Seiryuu, all she felt was a deep empathy.

"It's painful, isn't it. Being all alone in the darkness with people unwilling to be your friend and too scared to leave," she said softly. "Knowing deep down that everyone around you hates you for something you never had control over, let alone asked for."

Yoon shot Yona a strange look, before he realized this wasn't the princess talking.

This was the other soul within her... Lyra.

"The villagers are fools. I sincerely doubt you are a monster who would use his powers indiscriminately. I believe you are someone who deserves to step out in the light and live life to the fullest. However you still need to step out of the cave you've hidden yourself in and make that first step."

The teen stared at her, or so it seemed.

"Who... are you?"

She smiled at him, with open warmth and sympathy on her face.

"My name is Yona. I suppose you could say I am the reincarnation of the red dragon, the same way you are the Blue Dragona and Kija is the white. I'm searching for those with the dragon bloodlines, and I was hoping you would be open to joining us. You wouldn't be alone anymore."

The other teen was silent.

"I... cannot leave. Those that seek the Blue Dragon's power are enemies."

"What if it wasn't the Blue Dragon I sought, but the man who simply had the luck of being born with them? Would that make us enemies?"

The male stared at her in shock.

"You... want me?"

"Even if you weren't born with these abilities, I would have asked you to join our group regardless after seeing how the villagers treated you," said Yona with open honestly and conviction. "No one deserves to be treated like a monster for the crime of being born with powers they never asked for or wanted."

The blue dragon stared at her...but you could feel his shock hearing her sincerity. She would have asked him to join even if he didn't have this curse?

"We'll stay here until we get your answer."

As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long. As if the gods were determined to bring the dragons together, an earthquake hit as Yona was telling off the villagers for their treatment of the one with the dragon bloodline.

* * *

_Third POV_

Hak felt a chill of apprehension when he realized the earthquake could trap Yona and the others.

He had partially let his guard down because of the presence of Lyra, who was pragmatic and had a mindset he could fully appreciate. Even if it caused him great pain knowing that she had been robbed of her childhood and forced to become a survivor because of her 'family'.

He would not make that mistake again.

His hands bled when he realized they were trapped underground as he attempted to dig them out.

When he realized that some of the villagers had come, he lost his patience.

"How do I reach them, and don't lie to me. I'm not in any mood to play games," he said flatly. His aura was positively _murderous_ at this point.

He could sense Lyra's presence on the other side of the wall they lead him to. It was strange that he was more in tune with her than he was when Yona was in control.

He wasn't going to question it, not when it made a very useful internal radar for tracking the princess down.

It took him a few strikes to break down the wall separating him from Yona.

He was just relieved she was alright, and held her close.


	6. Chapter 6

They were traveling to find the Green Dragon when Yona spotted it. Hak had noticed her eyes were _almost_ as strong as Shin-ha when she was Lyra.

"Ah... a baby bird!" she said in surprise. The poor thing was on the ground, clearly having fallen from the nest.

"How strange. I wonder what breed it is," said Yoon.

"You're not planning to cook it, are you?" asked Yona.

"Too small," said Yoon.

Yona looked around for a nest, but when she found it she was dismayed. Clearly the parents had vanished long before.

Closer inspection revealed that the little bird had injured it's wing to the point it wouldn't be able to fly straight off. Leaving it alone was a certain death sentence for the poor thing.

There was no way Yona or Lyra would leave the little bird to it's death.

"Yoon...how do we bind the wing so it can heal properly?"

"You're not serious about keeping that thing, are you? It could just as easily fly off once it's better!" said Yoon.

"I'm fine with that. Wild birds shouldn't be caged anyway, and to try and force it to remain in one is just cruel."

Yoon sighed, but showed her how to bind the bird's wing so it wouldn't stress it too much.

"What are you going to call it?" asked Kija.

Yona looked at the bird's feathers, before thinking it over.

"I'm thinking Reimei, because it looks like it has all the colors of the dawn."

The newly named Reimei chirped, before curling up in Yona's hand to take a nap.

Over the next week, as they headed towards where Kija sensed the green dragon, Yona tended to Reimei with surprising competence. She didn't coddle the little bird, and she was better at tending to it's still growing feathers than even Yoon was.

Finally Hak asked the question quite a few of them were curious to know.

"How are you so good at taking care of birds?"

"My first real pet happened to be an owl. Hedwig was terrifyingly smart, and very protective of me... she treated me like I was her chick that needed mothering. I looked up everything I could about treating birds and how to care for different species after I got her. Animals can sense when you know what you're doing," said Yona distracted.

Reimei trilled happily under Yona's care, and easily walked up her arm to sit on her left shoulder. From what Yoon could tell, the bird was a fast healer and might even be able to fly soon.

Yona was almost sad when they took off the makeshift bandage, and she realized that Reimei was fine now. The primary flight feathers had grown in while she was caring for him, which meant he just needed practice and build up muscle strength before he could fly soon.

So you could imagine her delight when Reimei apparently decided he preferred being around _her_ more than he wanted to fly off. It seemed they had a new travel companion.

There was one tiny detail that became an issue once the bird decided to adopt Yona as it's "mama", according to an amused Hak.

The thing wouldn't stop growing. They had originally dismissed it, since it was still a baby and they had no idea what breed it was, but the thing had gone from being able to fit in Yona's hand to being roughly half the size of Hak's bag in less than two weeks.

There was no way it was a _normal_ bird.

Hak had a headache every time he looked at the bird.

So he decided to avoid the topic of what the heck Reimei was by asking something else.

"What exactly are you humming?"

Yona blinked.

"It's mostly random songs from Lyra's memories."

Things like "Amazing Grace", to random songs she had heard on the radio before she attended Hogwarts. She wasn't a particular fan of 'magical music', as it was clear those who used instruments only knew the bare bones of how to play them and had very little sense of song construction.

Reimei chirped and looked at Yona expectantly. It was somewhat amusing the bird kept trying to copy her, though it was getting better.

Yona looked at Reimei, before an idea occurred to her.

She remembered the sound of Fawkes when he appeared during the incident of the basilisk. So she gave Reimei some seeds before doing her best recreation of the sound. She could never get it quite right, to her disappointment.

Reimei looked at her intently, and it was clear the bird was listening to the 'music'.

Then to the shock of everyone, he began to _sing_. It was almost identical to how Fawkes sounded, except there were a few notes off.

Yona suddenly face-palmed.

"Why am I not surprised. Of course you're a newborn phoenix," she said in exasperation. "Which explains why I felt the beginnings of a familiar bond when I picked you up."

"Wait, what?!" said Hak. He wasn't the only one to stare at the bird.

"That tune I was humming before is the best recreation I can do of phoenix song. So the fact Reimei was able to pull it off with only a few notes wrong, never mind his abnormal growth rate is a pretty good indicator of what his species is."

"How so?" asked Yoon with open interest.

"Phoenixes are immortal firebirds...however every once in a while they turn into giant fireballs and are reborn from the ashes. The one I encountered when I was twelve turned into a blaze, before a small chick poked it's head out of the ashes. Less than three months later it was a fully grown bird again. Then again he was fairly old, and I suspect Reimei might be a newborn. Growing fast seems to be a self-defense mechanism for them, so they don't get killed off before they're old enough to use their more famous abilities."

"What sort of abilities?" asked Hak seriously.

Yona took a sort of lecturing pose.

"A phoenix is capable of carrying a great deal of weight...the one I encountered was able to carry three children under thirteen _and_ a fully grown man out of a long tunnel with no issue whatsoever... can transport a small amount of people in a blaze of fire without harm, and has an uplifting song that affects anyone who hears it. However the part I think Yoon would be most interested in is their tears."

"Their tears?" asked Yoon.

"Phoenix tears have healing powers...and they can act as potent antidote capable of healing all sorts of deadly poisons and venoms. I was bitten by a _really_ nasty snake when I was twelve and the only reason I survived was because a phoenix cried into the wound, nullifying the venom. Not only that, but it healed over the wound itself," said Yona.

Yoon was giving Reimei seriously interested glances now.

"However I have no idea how old they have to be in order to manifest those abilities, and like I said before I think Reimei is a baby still."

"How can you be sure Reimei is a phoenix at all?" asked Hak.

Yona gave him the most deadpan look he had ever seen on her face in his life.

"Because my luck tends to work like that. It'll throw you into the most ridiculous adventures and quests, only to give you little 'prizes' at the end of it," she said bluntly. "For Reimei to show up like he did, either fate is determined to make up for what happened that night or something very unpleasant is going to hit us once we find the green dragon. Or, and I'm really, really hoping this is just my paranoia talking, we somehow run into Soo-Won very soon."

Hak stared at her.

"Are you serious?"

"I honestly wish I _weren't_," said Yona tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "But I've been through way too much as Lyra Potter to dismiss something as 'ridiculous' as luck, especially when it comes to me personally. The fact we stumbled across a phoenix chick is evidence enough that we're either going to deal with a major headache in short order once we reach our next destination, or we're going to have a very unexpected meeting with someone who is going to cause us untold amounts of grief later. Possibly both. Hence why I am praying to whatever gods exist that my paranoia is just acting up and we _don't_ run into Soo-Won."

* * *

Yona made a point to switch out her earrings, as she had worn the same pair rather frequently at the castle, and she also changed her clothes. A simple bandanna was enough to cover up the majority of her hair, and if anyone asked she was going to claim it was dyed.

Add in the fact she wasn't going to act like a princess raised in court manners, and it was unlikely anyone would figure out she was Yona.

Hak had to hide behind some suspicious sounding coughs when she first demonstrated "Lyra" for the others. If he hadn't known who she was, then he _never_ would have guessed it was Yona at all.

She was scarily good at hiding in plain sight, to his amusement.

That being said, he was never going to look at Yona the same way again after watching her punch an officer so hard that she broke his jaw.

It was _glorious_ and if they hadn't had to run away from the scene he would have given in to the urge to kiss her senseless then and there.

Though there was something odd about the way Jae-ha looked at Yona like she was some form of snake.

It made Hak want to punch him repeatedly for it.

"I think he's the Green Dragon...but I get the weirdest feeling he's going to be very stubborn," said Yona, as they left the town.

"How so?"

"Did you notice the way everyone's eyes looked practically dead? I think the person in charge of the town is doing something to break their spirit and Jae-ha is likely part of the group trying to stop it."

"...You think in order to get him to join up with us, we have to deal with the problem in town."

"And there's a chance Soo-Won will show up after. My luck is pretty easy to predict when it comes to things like that. Once the biggest issue is dealt with, the chances of him suddenly showing up in town either immediately after or within a week or so go through the roof," said Yona.

Hak wanted to deny her words, but he had the weirdest feeling she wasn't joking.

"What do you plan to do if he does?" asked Hak.

Yona's smile was absolutely _terrifying_.

"Odds are he's going to 'mistake' me for Yona, so I intend to make him completely terrified of red heads by almost biting his head off. If I make my language 'rough' enough and curse him out while calling him what he is, which is a 'kinslaying king', he's likely to avoid me on principle," said Yona. "And if his bodyguards try anything, well I have no issue beating the crap out of anyone who gets near me. The only issue is that you can't be there if and when he shows up, or he'll _know_ it's me. Good thing Shin-ha knows how to fight as well, and that very few know what the Seiryuu looks like. Kija is too noticable with that claw of his."

Hak... wanted nothing more than to stake his claim on her after hearing that. He was sure _that_ particular show would be immensely entertaining for him to watch, if only because Soo-Won's mask would keep him from executing Yona for taking offense at the mistaken identity. Add into the fact it would only solidify her disguise as Lyra, and he was in his happy place.

"A pity we couldn't buy anything."

"I wouldn't try to purchase anything from the town just yet anyway. We have no idea who's in on the plan to break the spirit of the town, and whether we'd be walking into a trap," said Yona.

If it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation, Hak would have staked his claim on Yona after hearing how calmly she was taking this situation. He wasn't sure if it was Lyra's experience bleeding through or what, and he didn't particularly care.

* * *

Jae-ha was having a weird day. It had started out so well too!

And then he ran into _her_.

The odd girl with the bodyguard that gave off an air of 'royalty' and 'power'. As if she was a queen who had been forced to hide her true nature in order to survive, but there was no way to truly disguise her regal bearing...even if she did a _very_ good job at it.

One look at her, and his body _boiled_. A voice spoke in his head and he knew without a doubt that she was the same 'master' that the four dragons had been searching for through the generations.

Strangely, there was a sense of 'knowing' in her gaze. Not once did she mention him joining her, even though she clearly realized who he was.

Though he had to wonder if her bodyguard was sleeping with her. It was pretty damn clear even to him that there was a lot of unresolved sexual tension between the two just _begging_ to make one of them (likely the guy) snap.


	7. Chapter 7

Jae-ha had to stare when he realized the red haired girl and her bodyguard had somehow managed to track down the pirate ship without his help.

"...I was only gone for an hour or two. How did they managed to get on the ship so fast?"

"They presented a very convincing argument," said Ging-ha.

"Including her?" asked Jae-ha, looking at Yona with some distaste.

"Especially her," said Ging-ha, blowing out some smoke from her pipe.

Yona looked Jae-ha dead in the eye, before an expression of empathy filled her face.

"We'll help you deal with the idiot selling girls to the Kai Empire. It's up to you if you want to join us or not after that," said Yona.

Jae-ha looked at her oddly.

"You're not going to try and guilt trip me into joining?"

"Someone who knows what it's like to be a caged bird trapped against their will in a destiny they never asked for or wanted doesn't deserve to be forced to follow someone they have no respect for," said Yona.

Jae-ha had the strangest feeling the girl knew _exactly_ what it was like being trapped in a destiny that weighed down around your neck like an invisible chain. It was a strange feeling meeting someone for the first time and feeling such a kinship with them.

"So just to be clear here, you're not going to try and convince me to join your little harem?"

Yona flushed at that.

"It's _not_ a harem! And no, I would rather earn your respect first before I try asking you to join us. It would be beyond rude to drag you into my problems when you've already suffered enough because of the bloodline you didn't want or ask for. You're not the only one kept isolated and locked up because you were born with the dragon's blood in you."

Jae-ha blinked, before he noticed the way her eyes flickered towards the oddball in the mask and fur thing that hid most of his blue hair.

Something told him he had a lot in common with Seiryuu than he wanted to admit, but he had the courage to leave rather than stick it out.

Though nothing swayed his opinion more than hearing Yona _volunteer_ to get some highly useful medicinal herbs from a cliff that very few would be brave enough to walk along.

* * *

Yona found herself slightly pinned by Hak. It was a very odd feeling.

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"No. I do. If those herbs really are as good as they say, then it could keep everyone alive later," said Yona.

Her heart was racing fast, as Hak was so very close. Yona might be in denial, but Lyra certainly wasn't.

She had a crush on Hak for years, but had been too afraid of her own feelings to admit what they were.

Which was why, when Hak came just a little closer to her, likely to dissuade her from this course of action, Yona acted.

The expression in his eyes was almost comical, the moment he registered the fact Yona was _kissing_ him instead of the other way around. And not just on the cheek either... she was kissing him on the mouth.

Once his brain processed what was going on, he let out a possessive growl, and kissed her back with far more intensity.

Yona and Lyra were in complete agreement. They both liked Hak and were willing to give this a try.

"I promise I'll do everything in my power to come back to you in one piece. So try to rely on me for once," said Yona, once Hak gave her a chance to breath.

Hak did not look happy, but he was distracted by the fact his feelings were _finally_ being returned. He knew he couldn't coddle Yona too much, or she would never forgive him.

Her other self was too independent and self-sufficient for him to pull it off anyway.

Yona almost balked when she saw the cliff. It was beyond narrow and she would have to shuffle along the edge just to get to where the herbs were.

"You can always back out now," said Jae-ha. "No one would think less of you for not being brave enough to walk the cliff."

"Bravery is just another word for stupidity," said Yona flatly, startling him greatly. "Anyone who isn't terrified at the idea of walking along such a narrow path is an idiot."

Besides, she was about as positive as one could get with her wandless magic skills to apply a sticking charm that would allow her to cling more firmly to the cliff face in the event the wind picked up too much or the waves got too high to where she was.

She wasn't entirely certain if Reimei was old enough to catch her if she fell, and this mess only made her long for her broom all the more. She had never been scared of heights.

The farther along the path she went, the more she wished she had her broom. Anything had to be better than clinging to the side of a cliff with an extremely narrow path!

It was a good thing her feet were so small. Someone Hak's size would have had a very tough time walking along the edge without falling off.

Yona looked at the cliff edge with annoyance, ignoring the fact Jae-ha had been following her the entire time.

"This is ridiculous! If the herbs are so important then why hasn't anyone bothered to add discreet hand holds for those using this path?" she asked.

Jae-ha blinked. That...was a good question actually. Having some hand holds _would_ make the path a lot safer to use, even if it was really narrow.

"Too difficult, maybe?" he said unsure.

Yona paused to look at him with a dubious expression.

"You have enough people that guards could be posted, and it's clear this path isn't used by most because of how narrow it is. Exactly _how_ hard would be for someone to take a week or two to add regular hand holds while the others kept people not part of the group from seeing anything and possibly widen the path a little bit more to make it easier to use?" she deadpanned.

Jae-ha stared at her, unable to answer. It was a sensible question and made him openly wonder why they hadn't tried to make the path a little easier to use so others could get the herbs.

Yona kept going, sticking very close to the cliff face to avoid giving the wind any chance of blowing her off of it.

Oddly enough, it _was_ Yona who was making the trip, with Lyra distracting her from being too terrified to continue with encouraging words, not that Jae-ha was aware of that fact.

Yona wanted to stand on her own feet, rather than rely on Lyra's courage all the time.

However it was Lyra who took the smallest of the plants and put it in a pot with the soil around it. She wanted to see if she could grow a sustainable amount of the herb for them to use without having to come back for it.

She was reasonably sure they could figure out a way to grow more.

"Why did you take some of the plants with you?" asked Jae-ha, noticing the pot.

"To see if it could be grown outside this particular environment. Have none of you considered trying to cultivate it away from these cliffs?" she asked.

"People have tried. It rarely works," said Jae-ha exasperated.

Yona considered that.

"Have they documented when things went wrong and the plant started to fail?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

To say the others were relieved to see her and that Jae-ha was very confused on how to feel about his 'master' was an understatement.

On the plus side, Yona could tell she had earned a lot of respect from him as a result.

* * *

There was one _tiny_ issue that arose when Hak discovered Yona was trying to get the thorns out of her hand from where she had to grab one of the vines when a wave nearly washed her off the cliff face after she reached the plants.

Yona's face was a bright red seeing Hak _lick_ the honey off her hands.

The fact it caused her to have some rather odd feelings towards him was _not_ helping at all. Far from it.

Hak just looked beyond smug at the expression, and there was a hint of lust and love in his eyes as he looked at her. It was abundantly clear what he wanted, but that he was patient enough to wait for her to be ready.

Considering the nature of their next mission, and the fact both sides of her harbored strong feelings for him, it wouldn't take much for her to be 'ready'. Yona _was_ a teenager after all, and Lyra knew that it would be a great form of stress release. The only awkwardness would come from the fact they had several people with them and that the devotion of the dragons would be an effective mood killer.

That is, unless Yoon managed to convince them to look the other way.

Besides, it pissed Yona off whenever she had to watch other girls look at Hak with lust in their eyes and know that they would happily sleep with him if he gave them an inch.

It was bad enough Jae-ha managed to convince Hak into that one building where he had girls hanging off of him showing interest.

Hak seemed beyond pleased when he noticed Yona had a very flushed face, but wasn't trying to escape his grasp. However he had limited control at best with her looking like that, so he reluctantly let her hand go.

If they got out of this mess, he was _not_ going to hold back on what he wanted. If he played his cards right, odds were that Yona would be more than happily to let him.

"What are you doing?" asked Yoon.

Yona had a branch in her hand, and one of Reimei's feathers on the ground. She was currently trying to _merge_ the two, from what he could tell.

She had a look of frustration on her face.

"I'm trying to make a wand."

"A what?"

"It's a focus. It makes it easier to use magic and gives it power and direction. You know that charm I use to start the wood in half the time it takes for us to get a spark? I can make it at _least_ ten times more powerful with a wand. I have to work at doing magic without one," she explained. "The only issue is that I've only ever used _premade_ wands, by people who knew what they were doing."

"And the feathers?"

"Again, I've only used premade wands which had special 'cores' from magical creatures," said Yona. "My last wand had a phoenix feather core."

Understanding filled his features.

"Maybe I can help," said Yoon. "What exactly is it supposed to look like?"

She managed to conjure an image of her last wand.

Yoon blinked.

"That's it? It looked incredibly flimsy."

"They are."

Yoon looked at the feather, then at the wood Yona had been trying to mess around with.

"Does it have to look like a stake? You said you just needed a focus, right?" asked Yoon.

Yona looked at the two items, then at Yoon.

"I've honestly never tried. Besides, wands really are quite flimsy and I've never actually seen anyone use a focus other than a long stick. It can't be harder than doing it without one."

Mind made up, Yoon went to find one of the 'pirates' who was too injured to take part in the actual battle and wanted something productive to do other than acting as a scout. Considering it would take a day or two before the deal went down, this would prove a suitable distraction.

Fortunately the man _used_ to be a carpenter, and he found the idea intriguing enough that he was willing to give it a shot. Besides, he used to whittle in his spare time so making something for the girl helping them to put an end to the reign of terror in the town was a small way to pay her back.

Even if it was a bit odd that the feather had to be 'inside' whatever he made. He was looking into making a ring or possibly a bracelet or something for her to wear.


	8. Chapter 8

Yona had to admit, the hurry up and wait part of the plan was rather boring. So she decided to ask Yoon what the plant she acquired actually _did_.

The second he told her, she had to groan in annoyance.

"I had to walk along that cliff and deal with high winds and strong waves for a small amount of _dittany_?"

"Dittany?"

"Magical herb with some rather useful healing applications. Fairly common and easy to grow," said Yona. "On the plus side if that is what I collected, then it means we should have a steady supply of it so long as we don't overuse it. I know how to care for it."

That seemed to relieve Yoon. The herb was seriously useful and Yona had left the plant she had collected in the capable hands of Kija.

"What exactly did you say that creep earlier that had him not only backing away very quickly, but looking like he was about to wet himself?" asked Yoon.

Yona looked a little embarrassed.

"I may know a little more about medieval torture than anyone rightly should, and be very good at descriptive imagery to the point their mind makes up for the rest."

Yoon's head turned to stare at her, and he was not the only one.

"What? Do you have _any_ idea how easy it is to make people back off very quickly if they think you're into torture?" said Yona annoyed. "It freaks everyone out and makes them think twice about harassing you because they're too terrified of getting on your bad side!"

"...Point. Do I dare ask _which_ torture you told that fat bastard?"

"Have you ever heard of a blood eagle?"

"No."

"I would recommend keeping it that way."

"Do I want to know why?"

Yona leaned over and told him what it was, and he went pale.

"Seriously? Who comes up with that?"

"People who really didn't understand the concept of bathing regularly," deadpanned Yona.

Yoon looked disgusted at the idea.

"On the plus side, no one here is really going to complain if I start off with kicking them in the balls and working my way up from that when we leave the room."

"Wait, what?" said one of the women.

"If you kick a man between his legs, he's going to be in so much pain that it's very difficult to think about fighting back. And most men instinctively try to protect that area, so it frees you up to punch them in the face," said Yona wisely.

Seeing she had the intense interest of the women, Yoon almost pitied the men outside.

But really, they brought this on themselves.

"Hard to believe she's King Il's daughter," muttered Yoon.

King Il might have been a complete pacifist, but Yona had already proven herself to be a violent maniac who only kept herself on a leash because she didn't want people watching her actions too closely.

He had the feeling Hak would be _very_ interested in this side of the princess and wouldn't hesitate to wear her out in other ways if he saw this.

If that idiot Thunder Beast _didn't_ act on his feelings, and soon, Yoon was going to give him an earful while subtly diverting the dragons away from what they were doing until Hak gave Yona a better outlet for her violent tendencies.

_Thirty-six hours later..._

Yoon almost had to cringe when several of the braver girls, lead by a _very_ enthusiastic Yona, started beating the crap out of the men who had trapped them on the boat.

"You are terrifying."

"Thanks!" said Yona cheerfully.

"It wasn't a compliment!"

"I know, but it still made me happy," countered Yona.

"God I hope you get laid soon," said Yoon with full honesty. Perhaps then she would mellow out!

Setting the firework off was somewhat of a relief, since it meant he wouldn't be trapped with Yona alone anymore. He never thought the daughter of King Il would terrify him this much.

He openly pitied her cousin, once she was ready to come out in the open and fight him. He would never see her coming.

Yoon immediately took Hak aside the second the battle was officially over. The fact Yona struck the final blow wasn't the least bit surprising to him.

"You seriously need to get Yona laid."

Hak blinked.

"What?"

"Let me put it this way... if you don't find a way to mellow her out _now_, I'm going to start hinting that one of the dragons do it for you," said Yoon.

"...What exactly happened on that boat?" he asked slowly.

"She was teaching the captive women how to make grown men cry by kicking them in the balls! She openly freaked out that fat pig by telling him graphic details of a torture that will give me nightmares if she had given me more than the bare description of what it was! Did you not _see_ how violent she got once the fighting started? They were more scare of _her_ than they were _you!"_ said Yoon almost hysterically.

"...Seriously?" said Hak with interest. And not just the interest of a fighter.

"Grab her, find someplace relatively private and get on with it already so I don't have nightmares of her snapping and murdering us in our sleep!" said Yoon irate.

Hak had a rather disturbing smirk on his face, and Yoon could only hope those two would finally work out all that unresolved sexual tension before they found the last dragon. It had been annoying watching them before, but now Yoon would openly help those two get it on like bunnies if it meant Yona would keep from giving him even more nightmares.

* * *

Yona had just put a minor wandless color charm on her hair (which turned her eyebrows and her hair a deep blue similar to Hak's natural hair color) when she almost literally ran into...him.

Soo-won took _one_ look at her face...and cold shock filled his features. Hearing his men nearby, he attempted to hide Yona.

Except Yona wasn't having it. If she did this right then odds are she could fool anyone into believing she was someone else. Besides...no one outside of Lyra spoke English here.

"_What the hell do you think you're doing, you damn pervert?!"_ she shouted in English, punching him as hard as she could in the solar plexus, which gave her _plenty_ of room to kick him square in the balls.

Soo-Won lost all the air in his lungs from the kick and was forced to let her go. Yona wasn't finished, as she began to curse the air blue and called him every name under the sun for grabbing her like that.

All of it was in English, with the occasional word of local dialect. She made her displeasure _very_ clear to everyone in the vicinity and her language choice alone was as far from 'royal and refined' as you could get for a princess.

"Apologies miss," said one of her cousin's retainers. He had been at the castle that night and there was very little recognition if any in his eyes. He spoke slowly as if to insure she understood what he was saying. "It seems our King mistook you for someone else."

Yona glared at him.

"Who in blazes did he think I was? It's bad enough that stupid lord kept snatchin' girls right off the street to sell off, and now the king of this country thinks it's perfectly acceptable to grab someone at random?"

Soo-Won had mostly recovered, though he kept his distance from her.

"What do you mean 'sold off'?" he asked.

"The lord of this place kept snatchin' girls with the offer of a job, only to store them in his ship to be sold off," snapped Yona. "Them pirates were the only ones with enough balls to fight back, since the lord broke the locals."

"Where is the lord now?" asked Soo-Won.

"Dead. Along with all his officers that were in on it," said Yona.

"I see," said Soo-Won.

Yona refused to admit she yelped when, after getting away from Soo-Won (who was still cringing from the kick to the balls she had given him), Hak scooped her up and proceeded to carry her off to someplace secluded.

"I can't believe you kicked him in the balls, or that you cursed him out so much that he thinks he mistook you for someone else. And how did you dye your hair so well?" asked Hak darkly amused.

"Color charm. Bit difficult to do without a focus, but it certainly made him think it was a bad case of mistaken identity when he grabbed me didn't it?" said Yona smugly. "Where are you taking me anyway?"

"Someplace we won't be disturbed. I should have done this sooner," said Hak cryptically.

It took Yona a few seconds to get it, but when she did her face was almost as red as her natural hair color. The fact she didn't try to fight him or tell him to put her down told Hak that she was _almost_ as eager for this as he was.

(Yoon would breathe a sigh of relief when he noticed that Yona was considerably more mellow and Hak was looking decidedly smug the next morning.)

* * *

_A few days later..._

In perhaps the most anti-climatic moment ever, the Ouryuu appeared while they were setting up for dinner, without even introducing himself.

More importantly he was quick to join their group without much hesitation at all.

"Tell me princess. For what reason do you want to collect the four dragons? Is it to reclaim your castle?" asked Zeno seriously.

"It's to survive. Taking back my old home isn't going to solve anything. If I want to change this country into something better, I need to see it up close and personal. But traveling alone with Hak is simply too risky with the number of enemies I have...that is why I sought out the dragons," said Yona without hesitation. "My castle was little more than a cage that kept me from seeing the damage being done to my country."

There was a sad smile on Zeno's face.

"Everyone has to grow up sometime."

"Some sooner than others," agreed Yona.

"Next thing you know you're going to try something as ridiculous as taking up a sword," said Hak.

"Don't be ridiculous. Sword skills take years to learn and I have far more experience with my tessen," said Yona promptly. "Besides, I've always been more of a ranged fighter anyway."

"You can fight, Yona-chan?" said Jae-ha, clearly not believing it. Sure, she had taken out that scummy lord that had been plaguing Awa for years with her arrow, but the idea of Yona actually _fighting_ sounded ridiculous.

Jae-ha revised that opinion within seconds when he found a razor sharp tessen against his throat, just barely drawing a single bead of blood that dripped down the other side of the fan's blade.

"You'd be surprised how quickly people dismiss a fan as a weapon. I had my father hire the best dancers that used fans in their act so that I could learn them as well, all while he was unaware that I planned to use the stances for a much different purpose," said Yona. "Of course the fact it can double as an impromptu shield was a very pleasant bonus."

"I see!" laughed Jae-ha nervously. The look in Yona's eyes reminded him of how _relieved_ Yoon was after Hak finally slept with his princess.

He was starting to understand why if she was that high strung.

"If you're only good at fighting then you'll never get a husband," teased Hak.

"Who said I was only good at fighting? I _can_ cook you know," said Yona with a huff.

Dead silence.

"_You_ can cook?" said Yoon dubiously.

"The only reason I didn't bother before is because you knew more about the local spices," said Yona.

"This I have to see," said Yoon.

He would never question Yona's ability to acquire knowledge after she managed to make a rather tasty stew with local ingredients and a boar that Hak caught for them that she butchered. It wasn't expertly cut apart, but considering what she did with it that didn't matter much anyway.

"Tell us about this other world you come from, Lyra," asked Jae-ha.

Seeing the intense interest of the others, Yona silently conceded control over to Lyra.

"Most of my knowledge of Earth is fairly limited due to both my upbringing and the fact that when I was finally brought in to train my abilities I was placed in a rather isolated society that keeps itself in denial of the fact that normal humans have accomplished some amazing things."

"Like what?" asked Yoon.

Lyra pointed up to the moon above.

"We've literally walked on the surface of the moon, which is less dense than the planet we're on now and surrounded by a total vaccuum. Once you leave a certain point above the planet, there is no air to speak of. It's a complete vaccuum that will kill you in seconds if you aren't wearing protective gear," she stated simply.

There were quite a few wide-eyes at that.

"Why aren't we dead now then?" asked Hak.

"Think of the planet as a rock within a bubble. This bubble is a protective layer that keeps the air around us contained," replied Lyra, sipping her water. "And that's not getting into the centuries of culture and discoveries made. Music, art, literary works...the normal humans have advanced quite a bit when those with magic went into hiding because they were afraid of being targeted by religious fanatics who were jealous. And don't get me started on the food."

"What about medicines?" asked Yoon with interest.

"We've advanced quite a bit in that area. For example we can identify internal issues without having to cut people open, and we've developed medicines and techniques that people have been living well into their hundreds at the very least," said Lyra.

Yoon was impressed.

"What about the food?" asked Zeno.

Lyra developed a rather...devious...face.

Hak was both highly turned on and terrified. Yoon was just plain terrified.

The last time Lyra had that look on her face she was showing the women on the ship the most effective and painful ways of taking down the men without actually killing them.

"Did you know certain cultures actually fry up certain parts of male animals?" she said innocently.

"...I really, really don't want to hear the rest of this," said Yoon. He had a sneaking suspicious where this was going and wanted no part of it.

"What parts?" asked Jae-ha, walking right into Lyra's trap. Yoon took off at a run, hoping in vain he didn't hear the rest.

Lyra, however, was feeling slightly evil so she told them in a voice loud enough for him to catch most of it.

"Why their manhood of course. Specifically their balls," said Lyra. "It's considered a delicacy where people raise an abundance of livestock."

"Dammit Lyra, I didn't need to hear that!" wailed Yoon.

It took a few seconds for her words to sink in, and to a man each of the males there reflexively flinched and crossed their legs as best they could at the evil grin on her face.

"People actually eat..." said Jae-ha, looking rather green.

"Well the people who raise the animals don't want an abundance of livestock, and removing those parts tend to make the animal much calmer," said Lyra. Though she was still smirking at the effect it was having on the guys.

Teasing them was entirely too much fun.


End file.
